Midday Stories
by chibi-goddess-thor
Summary: A collection of one-shots and/or short stories about the Hanagumi or important figures in the SakuTai-verse. Warning: Shoujo-ai ahead!


Disclaimer: I do not own Sakura Taisen characters.

Implied Maria x Sakura

Mild OOC-ness

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"Sakura! That must be the tenth time you've tripped on something!" Maria chided, standing in front of the fallen swordswoman in her black workout clothes.

"And this must be the tenth time we've _stopped_ for Sakura-san!" Sumire sneered, panting from the pause in the run. "Really, Maria-san, you must stop coddling her!"

"You don't seem to be doing so well yourself, Cactus Woman." Kanna snickered as Sumire turned to glare at her.

One piercing stare from the Russian quelled any further fighting. She turned back to Sakura.

"Can you get up?" she asked.

"Yes." was Sakura's soft reply as she stood up and dusted herself off. She looked at the others before bowing. "Please excuse my clumsiness. I will try harder not to trip in the future."

Kanna waved it off, "There's no need to apologize, it could happen to _anyone_." She motioned pointedly at Sumire, the latter glaring daggers at the red-head.

"When was the last time I tripped?!" Sumire demanded.

"Five minutes ago, on that one root. You---"

Maria sighed, "Enough, the sooner we continue, the sooner we'll be finished." She looked at Kanna. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we _eat_." _and the sooner they stop getting on my nerves!_ she thought as the Okinawan's face lit up.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Kanna chuckled as she set a blazing pace up the mountain trail. Sumire gave Maria the 'oh-you-just-_had_ -to-didn't-you' look before following after. The Russian turned to the younger woman again.

"Ready to continue?"

Sakura exhaled, smiling widely, "Yep."

Maria gave a small smile back; the swordswoman's sudden enthusiasm was contagious. She set a more sedate pace on the winding trail than Kanna had, making sure that she could hear Sakura behind her.

They jogged on and eventually Maria was able to make out the familiar mop of red hair further up ahead. The trail changed from grass to cobble as they made their way up the mountain. The path slowly became steeper and steeper until it seemed they were going straight up. Maria stumbled on some loose rocks, sending a couple back down.

"Watch your head, Sakura!" Maria called back. "And watch your footing as well!" _Especially your footing…_ she added silently. They soon reached the first ledge and stopped to rest. Sakura plopped down unceremoniously and took a long drink from her water bottle. They both were breathing hard from the steep climb; they would attempt the next stretch at a slower pace.

"How do they do it?" Sakura asked breathlessly.

"They're too busy arguing to notice." Maria answered as she caught her breath. Her answer brought a small chuckle from the younger woman.

"You may be right on that one…" she sighed, inhaling deeply once and exhaling slowly afterwards. "Help me up?" she extended her hands towards the Russian.

"Sure." Maria grasped the slender hands, gently helping Sakura to her feet. "You ready to keep going?"

The swordswoman contemplated the next stretch of the trail, wincing and muttering to herself before a determined look crossed her face. "Yes! Let's go!"

After their next climb, the path leveled out into the forest again much to Sakura's delight. Maria couldn't personally see why she was so excited. It was a _forest_ after all…plenty of them around, what made this one so special?

She mentally winced, she had been so caught up in her thought that she had failed to notice that Sakura's rhythmic breathing was no longer behind her. Luckily, it hadn't been too long before she had noticed, all she needed to do was look back and see the swordswoman sitting on the ground and nursing some sort of wound.

The Russian walked quickly back and assessed the situation. Sakura's lower pant leg had been torn by a sharp rock when she had apparently stumbled on a protruding tree root. On top of that, dark blood was slowly staining the younger woman's pant leg.

"Ah…Sorry I'm such a klutz." Sakura chuckled weakly as Maria knelt down to bandage her leg for her.

"You need to stop apologizing for every little thing." Maria said as she began to strip pieces of cloth from her own jacket to use for Sakura's wound. "It becomes tiring after a while."

"So--…er…" Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth before smiling behind it. "I see what you mean, Maria-san." She winced as the Russian poured the remaining water over the wound to clean it.

"Tell me, Sakura," Maria began softly as she started wrapping the bandages around the younger woman's calf "how is it that you managed no to see that root?"

"I was…distracted." She shifted uncomfortably, looking back at the offending root to avoid the Russian's emerald gaze.

"By what?" she paused in her work to look straight at the swordswoman. "What was interesting enough to draw you attention away from such a large root?" The light blush that crossed Sakura's upper cheeks confused her.

"…Will you promise not to laugh?" Sakura quietly asked.

"Yes, just let me finish up before you start."

"Sure…" she winced as Maria resumed bandaging her leg. The blonde finished quickly, neatly tying off the last strip.

Sakura grunted softly as she shifted backwards to rest her back on the tree. She let the injured leg lay straight on the round while she drew the other to herself. Maria leaned slowly back onto her hands before setting herself into a sitting position.

She sighed deeply before beginning, "The reason I was distracted was because…the forest was talking to me." She finished hurriedly, shutting her eyes tightly and expecting a derogatory remark from the Russian sitting across from her. She opened one eye cautiously to find Maria's facial expression the same as when she sat down.

"The forest was…talking?" Maria leaned forward slightly in curiosity. "How?"

"Eh?" Sakura grinned uncertainly, "You actually believe me? You don't just think I'm crazy?

"Why would I? Maria gave a small smile in return, "It seems to mean a lot to you. I'll admit the idea's a little strange to me, but I wouldn't call you crazy. So tell me about it."

"Ah…okay…well…" Sakura stammered, not quite sure how to begin. She looked up in thought, taking a deep breath before she turned her attention back to the blonde.

"It's something that I've always been able to do, as well as my father and his side of the family. The family house in Sendai, you've seen it, right?"

"Yes, during the wedding fiasco." They both laughed softly, remembering the thorough tongue lashing they had all received from Yoneda at the Hanagumi's (sans Sakura) impromptu "rescue mission."

"Yes…well, it's surrounded, more or less, by an ancient forest. When I was 9, maybe 10, I walked through the woods regularly and eventually, one of the older trees decided it would be funny if I were to trip over its roots." She rolled up the other pants leg slightly to reveal a matching scar on her left shin. "It apologized profusely afterwards, saying it had only intended to play a small joke."

Maria nodded, a small smile twitching at the edge of her mouth. "It must be useful then, this ability."

"Yes, you'd think so wouldn't you…" Sakura muttered under her breath, quietly enough so that the woman across from her couldn't make out her sarcastic response.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, nothing! I was just thinking we should probably get moving. The sun's getting a little low." She smiled nervously as the Russian stood up, brushing dirt off of the seat of her pants. Sakura attempted to get up, but the wound on her right leg stubbornly prevented that from happening and she fell back.

Maria regarded the injury and after a short while crouched down with her back facing Sakura.

"Get on." She instructed.

"Oh, I don't…this isn't really…"

"Get on." The Russian firmly repeated. "We don't need your wound any worse than it already is."

Sakura complied, wrapping her arms loosely around the taller woman's neck as Maria gently maneuvered her legs. After both were comfortably situated, Maria started walking along the path once more.

It wasn't long before a small chuckle made itself known. The Russian kept walking forward but she turned her head to look at Sakura.

"What's so funny?"

"Sumire tripped on a root," She laughed louder, making Maria's shoulder vibrate softly "and Kanna's giving her grief."

Maria smiled and turned her head forward again. "The forest told you this?"

"Yes," Sakura rested her head in the crook of Maria's neck, causing the latter to blush lightly "can't you tell? The trees are laughing."

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It's been an ongoing project and I'm glad to say "It's finally done." It began with a summer program and ended 4 months and many root-trippings later ;

As always, please review!


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